Simona Halep says ‘big difference’ between way doping cases handled in tennis

Simona Halep has hit out at what she claims is a “big difference” between the way doping cases are handled in tennis.

It was revealed on Thursday that world number two Iga Swiatek had been banned for one month – the majority of it served secretly as a provisional suspension – after testing positive for the angina drug trimetazidine.

The International Tennis Integrity Agency accepted it was caused by contamination of the regulated non-prescription medication melatonin, which Swiatek took for jet lag and sleep issues.

The news came only three months after men’s world number one Jannik Sinner was cleared of any fault over two positive tests in March, with those failures also not announced at the time.

That led to accusations of a two-tier system within the sport – strongly refuted by tennis authorities – and Halep has now questioned the differences with her own case.

The former Wimbledon champion was banned for four years in September 2023, just over a year after she tested positive for roxadustat, a drug used to treat anaemia, as well as irregularities in her blood passport.

The suspension was reduced to nine months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in March, by which point she had already been out of the game for nearly a year and a half, after they accepted her explanation of a contaminated supplement.

Writing on Instagram, Halep said: “I sit and try to understand but it is really impossible for me to understand something like this.

“I sit and wonder, why such a big difference in treatment and judgment? I can’t find, and I don’t think there can be, a logical answer. It can only be bad will on the part of ITIA, the organisation that did absolutely everything to destroy me despite the evidence.

“I have always believed in good, I have believed in the fairness of this sport, I have believed in kindness.

“The injustice that was done to me was painful, is painful and maybe will always be painful. How is it possible that in identical cases that happened at about the same time (of the season), ITIA has completely different approaches, to my detriment?”

Halep, 33, returned to action in March but has struggled with injury, winning just one match in four tournaments.

British player Tara Moore, who served a 19-month provisional suspension before it was accepted she bore no fault for her positive test, also strongly criticised the ITIA.

“I took 19 months off as I had to make a “change to my team” too guys,” she wrote on the social media site X, a reference to the reason given for Swiatek missing a tournament while she was provisionally suspended.

“Let’s not forget, mine was also contamination, and 2 other people also tested positive yet ITIA are appealing my case. Why is no one seriously looking into the corruption of the organisations that govern us?”

Having already served three weeks as a provisional suspension, Swiatek’s ban will end on December 4, leaving her free to begin the new season as planned.